Letters to the Editor

LOOK TO WIRELESS, NOT FIBER

Fiber for our Future? Get real! The excitement in fiber died in the late '90s when the technology bubble burst. We were left with unused fiber all over the country, including Lafayette.

Look around you today, the excitement in future technology is in wireless. Technology magazines have "wireless" on their covers every month. More and more people are dropping their conventional wired phones at home for wireless phones. Sony now sells a LocationFree TV that wirelessly streams TV and movies from the Internet. Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Dell and just about every major technology company in the world are driving broadband wireless technologies in their products as fast as they can. People want complete mobility, and the free market is responding.

Now look around you, and see what kind of excitement you can find about fiber. Other than the local proponents touting the virtues of FTTH, there isn't much. Now, proponents of FTTH say wireless can't compare to fiber in security and bandwidth. I say, who cares! People are going to buy wireless services anyway, and the technology will get better and more secure as each month passes.

Proponents also say that FTTH will be needed to support all of these wireless devices and services. I say, they are incorrect! Cox and BellSouth have plenty of bandwidth capacity to meet these needs, and Verizon, T-Mobile, Cingular and others are joining in. We don't need to spend $125 million and cement ourselves into a failing fiber business for the next 20 years. If you are truly concerned about the future of technology and its impact in Lafayette, look ahead, not behind. The future is not with FTTH; just look around you.